Absolute’s Navetta models have proven extremely popular in a relatively short space of time. The first Navetta model, the 58, made its debut at the 2014 Cannes Yachting Festival. The second model, the Navetta 52, was shown at Cannes the following year. The flagship Navetta 73 premiered in 2017, and now comes the Navetta 48, which reportedly is already sold out for a year’s worth of build slots in Italy.
Well-Proportioned
The Navetta 48 is well-proportioned and immensely practical. She shares the same design cues as her sisterships: a snub bow and chine cheeks, a high foredeck, deep side decks, a near-vertical windscreen with shade from the deck above, a big flybridge and plenty of glass. And even though she’s the smallest Navetta, she offers many of the same onboard comforts as the rest of the line.
Luxurious Specifications
Her aft galley is on the same level as the aft deck, with the lounge and bridge raised a couple of steps. The décor is soft and subtle, a mix of high-gloss paint and various oaks. The bridge console sits over to starboard. Just to the right of the wheel there’s a full-height mostly glass side-deck door, an exclusive pantograph design used throughout the range. To port is an opening window, but the real wow factor is the windscreen, which is a 108-inch-wide piece of mostly flat and near-vertical laminated glass. From anywhere on board, the views forward are superb, and at the helm, they couldn’t be any better.
As for layout, the Navetta 48 has three staterooms and two heads, with an optional crew cabin aft. That aft cabin could be used for teenagers or guests, since it has a head and shower, and windows set into the transom. It adds $18,900. Any child or teenager is going to love the adventure of being in the captain’s cabin and, should this 48 ever have a lonesome crew or captain of her own, I don’t see them complaining.
Volvo Penta IPS engines
When it comes to power, all Absolutes use Volvo Penta IPS engines. The Navetta 48 has twin 435 hp IPS600 D6s. During my time aboard Hull No. 1, the boat topped out at 27.5 knots with the engines spinning at their maximum 3,700 rpm. She wasn’t that heavy — no hardtop, no Seakeeper 6 gyrostabilizer, and no tender weighing as much as 660 pounds — and we had just four people aboard.
Full up, her fuel tanks carry 475 gallons, so at my preferred dawdle of 10 knots and a burn rate of around 6.5 gallons per hour per engine, she would run for some 330 nautical miles, figures that exclude a 10 percent reserve. Go slower and the range really stretches out. With the engines at 1,600 rpm and moving through the water at around 8 knots, she would run happily for 520 nautical miles. Or at a more brisk 18 knots and nearly 3,000 rpm, the range would be about 250 nautical miles. Take your pick.
Built Rugged
To ensure its vessels are ocean-ready, Absolute Yachts uses a “multidimensional grid system” construction process. Internal supports are built at the same time as the hull and deck mold. The internal supports are inserted into the hull while still in the mold, and are affixed with fiberglass. When the deck is placed into the hull, it goes through the same process, creating a monocoque structure.